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About

The UW Department of Dance offers a dance minor, a dance major that culminates in a Bachelor of Arts degree and dance endorsement. The program also offers a Master of Fine Arts degree program. The program serves approximately 70 undergraduate dance majors, 80 minors, six graduate students, and over 900 non-major students who enroll in dance courses each quarter. The Department of Dance is staffed by six full-time and one emeritus faculty, in addition to a part-time Music Director and Technical Director. The facilities include three large dance studios, an intimate 238 seat studio theatre, and the 1,200 seat Meany Theater.

Mission Statement

 The University of Washington Department of Dance believes dance is for everybody. We expand the meanings and experiences of dance as a field of study and a living art form. We employ pedagogical perspectives, research approaches, dance-making methods, and performance philosophies that are historically and culturally informed to elevate the value of play, creativity, critical thinking, and embodied knowledge for our students and global communities. 

Community

We, the students, staff, and faculty of the UW Department of Dance, aspire to create a community built on respect, equity, collaboration, and belonging.  We recognize that diversity is essential to the existence and prolificacy of dance, and critical to the creation of a more just and inclusive dance field. By striving to promote an environment welcoming to people of all cultures, races, sexes, abilities, sexual orientations, gender identities and/or expressions, ages, religions, and economic statuses, we believe creativity, critical thinking, and self-expression can thrive. We humbly acknowledge our fallibility as we work together and strive to make essential changes to our department, university, and larger field of dance.

Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion Initiatives 

View our Fact Sheet (PDF)

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